”Nowthen，Howarti，throwverycarefully，soastospreadyournetinthatopenspaceamongthelilies，andtakecaretoavoidtheleafstemsthatwouldlifttheleads。””Bismillah！”awayflewthenet，whichfellinacircle，exactlyinthespotdesired。ItwasamusingtowatchtheusuallystolidcountenanceofHowarti，thatwasnowexpressiveofintensecuriosity。
Thecrown-linejerkedandtuggedevenmorethanatthefirstluckythrow。Howarticleverlyandcautiouslylandedhisnet。Itcontainedaregular”miraculousdraught，”includingaNilecarpofaboutninepounds。”Thatwilldo，Howarti，”Iexclaimed；”wehavefishenoughforallthepeopleonthediahbeeah，aswellasfortheofficersof’TheForty。’”
Thebasketwouldnotcontainthem；thereforethelargerfishwerelaidupongrassinthebottomoftheboat，andwereturnedhome。
Howartinowdividedthefishaccordingtoorders，andexplainedtothedelightedcrowdtheextraordinaryeffectoftheword”Bismillah，”whichinsuredanetfulateverycast。
Onthefollowingmorning，atsunrise，thenowpiousHowartiwentoutasusualwithhiscasting-netaccompaniedbyasailor，whocarriedthelargestbaskethecouldprocure。
Wehadmovedourposition，andtherewasnosand-bankintheneighbourhood。
Afteranabsenceofabouttwohours，Howartireturned，togetherwithhiscompanionandthelargebasket。Thiscontainedafewsmallfishhardlysufficientforourbreakfast。”Ah，Howarti！”Iexclaimed，”youareabadMussulman——youhaveforgottentosay’Bismillah。’””Indeed，”repliedthedejectedfisherman，”Irepeated’Bismillah’ateverycast；butit’sofnousesaying’Bismillah’indeepwater；nothingwillcatchtheminthedeep，andIcancatchthemwithout’Bismillah’intheshallows。”
HowartiwasnotafanaticalMohammedan。PoorfellowheneverlivedtoreturnwithustoKhartoum：hismelancholydeathwillbedescribedhereafter。
InfishinginthelakeatGondokoroHowartihadtheusualchargeoftheproceedings。Wedraggedaboatacrosstheneckoflandfromtheriver，andhavinglaunchedit，wefirstlaidastopnet140yardsinlengthalongthebankofbulrushesthatgrewinwateraboutfivefeetdeep；
thiswastostopthefishfromrunningintotherushesontheadvanceofthedrag-net。
Wenowdraggedaportionofthelaketowardsthestop-net，intendingtolandituponaninclinewherethewaterwasextremelyshallow。
The”FortyThieves”hauledawaysteadilyenoughuntilthenetcameclosein。Atthatmomentseveralimmensefishdashedaboutwithinthenarrowedinclosure；thesecreatedsuchexcitement，thatthemenrushedintothewatertosecurethem，whichendedintheescapeofthegreaterportionofthefish。
Thenexthaulwasverysuccessful，andafterfishingforabouttwohours，wecaught434finefish，oneofwhichweighed40lbs。andanother26lbs。Isent200tohead-quartersforthetroops。
Thegreaternumberofthesefishwereboultiandbaggera，bothofwhicharespeciesofperch，andaredeliciouseating。Ihavenevercaughtaboultilargerthanfivepounds，butthebaggeragrowstoanimmensesize，andIhaveseenthemabout150lbs。ormore。Ionceweighedabaggeraupwardsof130lbs。，buttheyaresaidtoattainaweightofseveralhundreds。
Ihaveformerlydescribedthebeautyofthissalmon-colouredfishin”TheNileTributariesofAbyssinia。”
Itiswellknownthatinallcountriesthesamespeciesoffishdiffersinflavourandqualityaccordingtothewaterinwhichitiscaught；
thustheboultiandbaggeraarealmostworthlessinthelowerNile，comparedwiththesamefishoftheupperriver。
Travellersmayoftenunjustlycondemnafishasworthless，becauseitmayhavebeenoutofseasonwhentheyhadtheopportunityofeatingit。
Inevertastedanyfresh-waterfishsuperiortoaboulti，slightlysalted，andsmokedfortwelveoreighteenhours。
Inhotclimatesallfishshouldbesplitdowntheback，andlaidopen；
theyshouldthenbesaltedandshouldlieforafewhourstodrain；
afterwhichtheyshouldbehungoverthesmokeofadry-woodfire。Thistreatmentrendersthemdeliciousforimmediateuse，butifrequiredtokeep，theymustbesmokedforacoupleofdays，andthenbehighlydriedinthesun。
The14thDecemberwastheMohammedanholidaycalledthe”UmeelEte，”onwhichdayeveryperson，howeverpoorheorshemaybe，issupposedtodressinnewclothes。
WehadnowbeenupwardsoftwelvemonthswithoutcommunicationwithKhartoum。Thesoldiers’clotheswerereducedtorags，astheyhadsufferedmuchfromhardworkandfightinginthornybush。Thewholeforcewasindespair：theywereinarrearsofpay，theywerewithoutclothes；thefestivalwascloseathand，andinsteadofturningoutinfinery，theywouldbedirty，dingy，andragged。
Everyonewasdowncast。Thetroopscouldnotpossiblystartwithmetotheinterior，torepresentthegovernmentinastateofragsornudity。
On13thDecember，thedayprecedingthefestival，Isummonedtheofficerstothemagazine，inwhichIfortunatelyhadallthatcouldberequired。ThemerchandiseandgeneralstoresthatIhadpurchasedinEnglandhadnoconnectionwiththearmyclothingandstoreswhichshouldhavebeensuppliedforthetroopsfromKhartoum。Thissupplyhadbeenimpossibleowingtothestateoftheriver。
Iservedoutnewclothingfortheentireexpedition。Iarrangedthat212
officersandmenshouldaccompanymetotheinterior。TotheseIgavescarletflannelshirtsandwhitetrousers。Theofficersreceivedallthattheyrequired，andthemenwereallowedtopurchasefromthegovernmentstoresanyarticlesthattheyconsiderednecessaryforthemselvesortheirwives。TherewasnocashatGondokoro；thus，intheabsenceofpay，thesoldierswerecontentedwiththesuppliesfromthemagazinewhichfurnishedalltheirwants。
On14thDecemberthecannonsfiredatsunrisetoproclaimtheholiday。I
rodeuptohead-quartersandinspectedthetroopsonparade，allintheirnewuniforms。Everymanwasinagoodhumour，andtheyburstoutintothreecheersasIcompletedtheinspectionandaddressedafewwordstothem。
Themen’swivesweredeckedoutwithgaudycolours，andwerehappyinproportiontotheamountofredandyellow。
Thetroopsandsailorswereastonishedattheunfailingcontentsofthemagazines，whichestablishedconfidencethatshouldwebepositivelycutofffromallcommunicationwithKhartoum，wewereneverthelessindependentofsupplies。
EverythingwasinorderatGondokoro。Thenativeswereatpeace；foodwasabundant；thestationsecurelyfortified。
Inowdeterminedtopenetrateintothesouth，andtocarryasteamerinsectionstoN。lat。3degrees32minutes，whereshewouldbeconstructedbytheEnglishmen，andlaunchedonthenavigableriverabovethelastcataracts，toopenthecommunicationwiththeAlbertN’yanza。
Allintriguesandoppositiontotheexpeditionhadbeenovercome。
Althoughmyforcewassmall，themenwerefullofconfidence，andpromisedtofollowwheresoeverImightlead。
CHAPTERXIV。
THEADVANCESOUTH。
Militarycriticswillcondemnmyarrangementsforanadvancesouth。
Myoriginalplanshadbeenwelllaid。Alineoffortifiedpostswastohavebeenestablishedthroughoutthecountryatintervalsofthreedays’
march。ThiswouldhaveassuredanopencommunicationwithGondokoro。
Unfortunately，myforcehadbeen350menshortofthenumberstipulated；
andthe1，200menthathadoncebeenreviewedatGondokorohadbeenreducedto500。
Icouldnotleaveasmallerforceathead-quartersthan340men，includingthe52sailors；thusIwasleftwithonly212officersandmentocommencealonganduncertainjourneydirectlyawayfrommybase，withoutthepowerofcommunicationintheeventofunforeseendifficulty。
Ihadalreadyexperiencedthetreacheryofnatives，uponwhomnoreliancecouldbeplaced。
MyintentionwastoleavetheEnglishmen，withthesteamersections，atastationtobeformedatIbrahimeyehAfuddoonthemaponthenavigableNile，N。lat。3degrees32minutes，togetherwithasmallgarrison。
IshouldthenendeavourtoformanirregularcorpsofsomeofAbouSaood’smen，whowouldbethrownoutofemploymentattheexpirationofthecontract。Thiswasnearathand。
Anirregularcorpsof600menwould，inadditiontomy200，enablemetocompletetheannexationofthecountry，andtofinishmyworkbeforethereinforcementsshouldarrivefromKhartoum。
Ontheotherhand，themenofAbouSaoodmightrefusetoenlistingovernmentservice。AlreadytheyhadbeenrenderedpassivelyhostilebytheinfluenceofAbouSaood。TheyhadsecretlyencouragedtheBarisintheirwaragainstthegovernment；theymightrepeatthisconduct，andincitethetribesagainstusintheinterior。